South Korea mourns the father of democracy

South Korea paused to mourn the former archbishop of Seoul, Stephen Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan, who died quietly of old age on February 13, 2009. As the body of the 86-year-old cardinal lay in state in the church, over 400,000 people filed past to bid their last farewell.

Widely revered as the custodian of human rights in South Korea, Cardinal Kim had a further vision, democracy. “The will of the people is the will of God, and the will of the people is for democracy,” become his mantra.

Born in Taegu in May 1922, while Korea was under Japanese rule, Cardinal Kim was conscripted into military service by the occupying power during WWII but went to the seminary immediately upon discharge and was later ordained a priest in 1951. He ministered during the Korean War and then watched as his country’s newly-won national freedom was squandered by a series of corrupt and incompetent governments, culminating in the ousting of Rhee Syngman as president in April 1960.

Worldwide fame never sat easily with Cardinal Kim. In is autobiography, he reveals a humble man of doubt. He denies that he was at the forefront of the democracy movement and writes, “I tended to tell the younger priests not to keep holding the emergency prayer meetings.” He then adds, “Rumours that I was the godfather of the Catholic Priests Association for Justice were mistaken.”

Credited as a key influence in bringing an end to the violent government crackdown on the Democratization Movement in Kwanju in May 1980, Cardinal Kim writes, “When someone asks me if I did all I could at that time, I don’t have the confidence to say I did. If I’m then asked if I did nothing, I want to say I worked in my own way to stop what happened.”

Following his retirement in 1998, Cardinal Kim could be found at the Demilitarized Zone, offering Mass for reunification of a people separated by the concrete symbol of a divided country. His concern for the people of North Korea was life-long, constantly saying, “We need to be ready to help North Korea’s people, in any form and in any way, to realize our national aspiration, reunification.”

Priests working in the archdiocese of Seoul say that the Church did indeed grow prolifically under his care. The quiet leadership of what they describe as a gracious and graced man injected a spirit among the people which saw the aspirations of the council take root.

May he rest in peace.

Fr. Jim Mulroney, Hong Kong

After the fire, opportunities abound in Australia

Kevin Rudd, prime minister of Australia, addressed the national parliament as thousands of homes in the far north lay submerged under murky flood waters and the south was engulfed in a blazing ring of fire.

His government’s response revealed the magnitude of human suffering, as he outlined programs to address everything from providing toothbrushes for immediate use to rebuilding community structures down to trauma counselling and helping people verify their very identities.

Rudd spoke of “the rolling miracle of the Australian volunteer community, of the Church and charitable sector, this great army of people immediately comes and is there, without complaint, without request for anything in particular… An extraordinary testament to the Church and the charitable communities…”

Father Frank Marriott, from the fire-struck city of Bendigo, is calling for a renewed commitment to the biblical call to stewardship. “We have had fires before and have not learned,” he recalled. He said that 80 homes were destroyed in his city and one man died, but as he reflected on the cure of the lepers in the gospel for February 15, he wondered if the fires are the leprosy of modern Australia.

“In the beginning, the touch of Jesus healed the leprosy,” he reflected. “But as stewards of creation, we learned how to cure and prevent the disease. We need to be good stewards of creation for our environment too,” he went on. “We must use our brains to find a way to live with the threat and the terror of fire.”

Australians know that their country will always burn. Its unique flora demands it. Some plants require heat and smoke to release their seeds and its prolific eucalypts need fire to generate new growth. “As stewards of creation we need to figure out ways to live with this,” Father Marriott said. “Actually, we already know how to do things, but without the healing touch of the Lord, we misuse them to satisfy our desires.” He explained, “We need to be sensitive to the touch of the Lord in the fires. We can learn how to live with them too.”

Father Marriott prayed that this tragedy may sensitize us to the touch of the Lord, which is so necessary to begin the process of healing.

Fr. Jim Mulroney submitted this update from the Columban office in Hong Kong.

Fr. Ollie C. Kennedy Retirement

On February 9, 2009, the Missionary Society of St. Columban feted Fr. Ollie C. Kennedy with a retirement celebration. After ordination Fr. Kennedy was assigned to Burma (now Myanmar). Unfortunately, when he arrived, no visas were being granted. He then went to Korea until the war forced him to Japan. Fr. Kennedy went back to Korea after the war and then on to Jamaica. After Jamaica, Fr. Kennedy was assigned to the U.S. mission office in St. Columbans, Nebraska, where he served for thirty-three years in numerous capacities.

Fr. Kennedy continues to work in the office before his departure for Bristol, Rhode Island in Spring 2009. Fr. Kennedy’s cheerful greetings, his dignified bearing and gallant manner will be missed in the halls of the house and the mission office.


L-R in the photo: Jeff Norton, Fr. Ollie C. Kennedy, Fr. Arturo Aguilar at the retirement celebration.

Summer Youth Mission Experience

The Missionary Society of St. Columban is proud to announce our co-sponsorship of the Summer Youth Mission Experience (SYME).

The Summer Youth Mission Experience (SYME) is intended for both youths and adults who would like to immerse themselves in border issues and immigration issues through the lens of Catholic social teaching without traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border. The program has been co-sponsored by the Diocese of Gaylord, the Missionary Society of St. Columban and the Justice and Peace Awareness Center of Traverse City, Michigan.

The Summer Youth Mission Experience will be offered twice during 2009:
Sunday, July 5 - Thursday, July 9, 2009
Sunday, August 16 - Thursday, August 20, 2009

You may have noticed that immigration issues are an important concern to the Obama administration. Experiencing SYME will put you right at the interface between Catholic Social Teaching and headline news!


For more information, please contact:

Reverend Wayne DziekanSecretariat for Justice and Peace
wdziekan@dioceseofgaylord.org
Diocese of Gaylord611 West North St.Gaylord, MI 49735
Cell #: 231-409-1387
www.dioceseofgaylord.org

The Food Bank

One of my mother’s most often used phrases during my childhood was “Eat that. Children are starving in China.” Apparently, children in China would have been thankful for my uneaten lima beans and would not have suggested to their mothers that they would have preferred corn.

Fast forward to 2009, and I am the mother shaking her head over my kids’ eating habits. Unlike my mother, I do not tell Andrew and Beth that children starving in China would like their vegetables. Times have changed, and I could list Darfur, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe or any number of countries with starving children. Or, I could say that kids in their own hometown, Omaha, Nebraska, are hungry when they go to bed.

In the end, I don’t say anything about anyone starving. I leave that to another more age appropriate time. I scrape the plates into the trash wondering why they didn’t eat the nutritious yet delicious (ok, average tasting) meat loaf I prepared. And when everyone is tucked in safe and sound for the night, I write a check to my local food bank and give thanks for all that I have been given.

And then I call my mom and apologize for my misguided, failed and ultimately smelly attempt to mail lima beans to China in 1975.

Kate Kenny is the managing editor of Columban Mission magazine.